Department of Animal Husbandry & Fisheries has three directorates: Animal & Husbandry, Dairy and Fisheries. Headquarter of all three directorates is located at Ranchi and has district level offices in all the 24 districts of Jharkhand. There is one state level federation of fisheries co-operative called Jharkhand State co-operative Fisheries Federation (JHASCOFISH) at Ranchi. About 392 fishermen co-operative societies are working in Jharkhand.

Fisheries is an important economic activity in the state for additional employment and income generation. About 65-70% of people in the state consume fish and shellfish products. Against the estimated annual demand of 1.15 lakh metric ton of fish, the annual production of fish in the state is nearly 96,000 tonns. The annual demand of fish seed is 1200 crore and the state is producing nearly 96 crore.

The aquaculture resources in the state are mainly reservoirs and tanks. The cumulative area of nearly 252 big and small reservoirs is 1,15,000 ha. The number of check dams are 1184 having an area of nearly 4570 ha. Main rivers are Swarnrekha, Damodar, Koyal, Sankh, Ajay, Kanchi and Brahmi . Most of the rivers are seasonal in nature.